Minnie of Hobcaw

A lot has been written recently about the Bernard Baruch estate, Hobcaw, located on the coast of South Carolina and a center for the states Gullah culture. A living source for many of the stories written about Hobcaw in the twentieth century has been Minnie Kennedy the daughter of the Baruch family cook Daisy and the familys key duck guide and jack of all trades, William.

But, beyond he contributions to our understanding of Hobcaw, Minnie Kennedy had an amazing life of her own, coming out of a one room school house on the estate to become one of the nations pioneers in the theory and practice of pre-school education. This book is the story of Minnies climb, in the face of racism and doctrinaire attitudes, to become a leading force in headstart and teaching teachers how to teach. He abiding faith in our common humanity guided her through a tumultuous life and to the attainment of her lifelong goal of being a true educator. He life story is a mirror of the evolution of civil rights and concern for children in our society.

About the author (2007)

With degrees from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkely, New Jersey native Harry R. Roegner has lived in France, Belgium and Germany plus traveled extensively in Asia, Africa and Latin America in his vocation as an international businessman and in his avocation as an avid butterfly enthusiast. Roegner’s ancestors were some of the fist Dutch settles to move into Lenape territory across the Hudson River form Manhattan in the 1680’s. He has amassed one of the major private collections in the country which now resides at the Cleveland Museum of natural History. In 1999, Mr. Roegner started to collect notes made during his 40 plus years of collecting which led to publishing of his first set of butterfly Adventures memoirs – Butterfly Trails. Adventures with Butterflies is his second set of memoirs with at least one more set in the planning stage. In addition to being a leading authority on the international automotive business and the butterfly, Mr. Roegner, who speaks five languages, was an advisor form 1984 to 1992 to the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade representative on international trade policy. In 2004, Mr. Roegner published Gerrit the first of a series of biographies on person of historical note. Minnie of Hobcaw, the third book in the series, focuses on the contributions of Minnie Kennedy to our society and the major transitions of many black Americans in the 20th century form South and North and from racial stereotyping to broader acceptance.